Cattle-guard.



J. I. STEPHENS.

CATTLE GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 4, 1912.

1,08%509. Patented Mar.10,191L

auvemtoz l STEPHENS JOHN ISAAC STEEHENS, OF CHAFFEE, MISSOURI.

CATTLE-GUARD.

Application filed December 4, 1912.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1Q, 1914.

Serial No. 734,945.

To all 107mm it may concern Be it known that I, J OHN I. S'rnrrmns, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chall'ee, in the county ofScott and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and use-- fulImprovements in Cattle-Guards, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in cattle guards,the object of the invention being to provide a novel device of thischaracter adapted for use on railroads to prevent live stock such ascattle, hogs, sheep, etc, from passing over one inclosure into another,where the fences are intersected by the railroad.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cattle guard which willpossess advantages in points of efliciency and durability, isinexpensive to manufacture and at the same time is simple inconstruction and operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement ofparts to be hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claimand shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan viewof a cattle guard constructed in accordance with my inven tion. Fig. 2is a detail View illustrating the manner of securing the spurs to theties.

In the construction of my improved cattle guard, the same is to beconstructed entirely of metal so that it may be applied to the railroadtrack wherever a fence is intersected by the track, thus doing away withthe heavy timbers which are adapted to be used with the cattle guardcommonly in use at the present time. Referring to the drawings, thenumeral 1 indicates the cross ties upon which are mounted the parallelspaced rails 2. Secured to the ends of the ties upon the outer sides ofthe rails are the longitudinal bars 3 which are arranged in parallelrelation with the rails 2. Secured to the bars 3 and arranged inparallel relatlon with the ties are the transverse bars at which extendtransversely of the rails 2 and are arranged beneath the same.

Secured to the cross bars 4 are the angular spur members 5, the lowerends of said spurs being secured to the cross bars 4 by means of thebolts 6. The other ends of said spur members are disposed at rightangles to the rigid end and provided with a sharp tapering point 7, saidpoints being arranged in a horizontal position and upon a level with thetop of the rails.

The spur members 5 are arranged in parallel alinement as shown in Fig. 1and are to be of suflicicnt resiliency so that should any of the livestock try to get over the same, pass the first row of spurs and strike011 the second row, they will bend downwardly and allow the hoof of theanimal to slide inwardly toward the third row of spurs and come incontact with the points thereof which will prevent the animal frommoving farther upon the guard. The guard wings 8 arranged upon oppositesides of the track and in alinement with the guard which comprise theupright supporting members 9 having their upper ends secured to theposts 9 and their lower ends arranged in spaced relation and supportedby means of the brackets 10, said brackets having one of their endsbolted to the ends of the cross bars 4 as shown at 11 and their otherends securely bolted to the lower ends of the members 9, as shown at 12.Arranged transversely upon the members 9 are the slats 13 having points14 formed at one of the ends thereof, these points being disposed in thedirection in which the points 7 are arranged. Vertical rods 16 arearranged beneath the supporting members 9, the upper ends of which aredisposed through the upright 9 and the slat 18 as shown at 17, the lowerends of said rod tapering into the points 18 which are arranged justabove the surface of the ground.

In securing my improved guard to a railroad track, it is only necessaryto spike the longitudinal bars 3 to the ties and then bolt thetransverse bars 4t to the bars 3, the spur members between the trackrails 2 will be previously secured to the bars 4; so that the spurs uponthe ends of the bars 1 will have to be secured thereto after they havebeen arranged in position. In this manner, it will be readily apparentthat the device is extremely simple in its construction, may be quicklyand easily applied or removed from the railroad track and at the sametime will be durable and ei'hcient in its operation. In view of the factthat all of the parts thereof are of metal or other suitable material,the device will not become deficient after a cer tain period of servicebut will last longer than the usual guards which are used at the presenttime.

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, it will be readily apparent that I have provided a simple anddurable cattle guard -which will be extremely efficient in its operationand which at the same time can be manufactured and placed upon therailroads at very. small cost.

WhileI have shown and described the preferred form .of my invention, itwill be obvious that various changes in the details of construction andin the proportions may be resorted to for successfully carrying myinvention into practice without sacrificing any of the, novel featuresor departing from the scope of the appended claim.

That I claim is In a device of the character described, the combinationwith a railroad track having longitudinal bars secured to the ends ofthe ties of the track and transverse bars ar ranged in parallel relationwith the ties, said transverse bars being disposed between the ties andhaving their ends secured to the longitudinal bars, of spur membershaving their lower ends secured to the transverse bars, points formedupon the upper ends of said spur members and disposed at right angles tothe body of the spur members, said points being arranged in longitudinalalinement and disposed in a horizontal plane upon a level with the topsof the rails, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN ISAAC STEPHENS. Witnesses CLAUDE M. BRAEM, R. L. COOPER.

flopien 01 this patent may be obtained (or five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

